Torah as the source of true life

ומפי אמו"ז ז"ל שמעתי אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם שיניח האדם עיקר החיות בתורה ומצות עכ"ד.

And from the mouth of my grandfather and teacher, of blessed memory, I heard regarding "which a man shall do and live by them" (Vayikra 18:5): that a person should place the essence of his vitality (chiyus) in Torah and mitzvos. These are his words.

The Sefas Emes cites his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim): "and live by them" means a person should make Torah and mitzvos the very center of his life-force, the thing he truly lives for.

ויש להוסיף ע"ז כי באמת עי"ז וחי בהם כי התורה נותנת חיים לעושי' בעוה"ז ובעוה"ב.

And it may be added to this that in truth, through this one fulfills "and live by them," for the Torah gives life to those who do it, in this world and in the World to Come.

The Sefas Emes adds: making Torah one's essential vitality is not merely an attitude — it literally causes the Torah to grant a person life, both in olam hazeh and olam haba.

וכמו שהרשעים שעיקר רצונם לחיות כדי להנות מעוה"ז לכן כל חיותם ע"י אכילה ושתי' אבל הצדיקים שעיקר רצונם לחיות כדי לקיים מצות ה' ותורתו.

And just as the wicked, whose primary desire is to live in order to derive pleasure from this world — therefore all their vitality comes through eating and drinking — but the tzaddikim, whose primary desire is to live in order to fulfill the mitzvos of Hashem and His Torah.

A person's source of life follows what he lives for: the resha'im live for physical pleasure, so their vitality flows through food and drink, whereas tzaddikim live in order to serve Hashem.

לכן התורה ומצות הם. החיים שלהם כמ"ש כי הם חיינו דייקא. שלנו נותנת התורה החיים.

Therefore the Torah and mitzvos are their life, as it is written, "for they are our life (ki hem chayeinu)" — precisely; the Torah gives life to us.

Because tzaddikim live for Torah, the Torah itself becomes their actual life-source. "They are our life" is meant literally: for one who lives this way, Torah is what sustains him.

ואחז"ל ללכת בהם עשם עיקר ולא תעשם טפל.

And Chazal said on "to walk in them" (bahem): make them primary (ikar) and do not make them secondary (tafel).

Chazal derive from "to walk in them" that Torah and mitzvos must be treated as the main thing in life, never as a sideline to worldly concerns.

ובאמת זה תלוי בעבודת האדם כפי מה שעושה עיקר מתורה ומצות. אז התורה נותנת לו חיים גם בעוה"ז.

And in truth this depends on the person's avodah: according to how much he makes Torah and mitzvos primary, then the Torah gives him life even in this world.

The measure is in a person's own hands: the more he genuinely centers his life on Torah, the more the Torah becomes a source of life for him even here in olam hazeh.

וז"ש אשר יעשה אותם האדם ואז וחי בהם כי התורה עיקרה למעלה והיא כוללת כל העולמות.

And this is the meaning of "which a man shall do" — and then "and live by them," for the Torah's essence is above, and it encompasses all the worlds.

The Torah's root is in the upper worlds and contains all of existence; when a person "does" the mitzvos with that orientation, he draws this all-encompassing life down to himself.

וע"י מעשה בנ"י בתורה נותנת להם חיים בעולם הזה ג"כ.

And through the deeds of Bnei Yisrael in Torah, it gives them life in this world as well.

By actively performing the mitzvos, Bnei Yisrael draw the Torah's supernal life-force down into this world, so that it vitalizes them here too.

וע"ז מסר לנו הקב"ה התורה שעל ידינו יתפשט הארת התורה גם בעוה"ז:

And concerning this, Hashem handed us the Torah, that through us the illumination of the Torah should spread also into this world.

This is the very purpose for which Hashem entrusted the Torah to Bnei Yisrael: that they serve as the conduit through which the Torah's light spreads and illuminates even the physical world.

Summary: Building on his grandfather's teaching that "and live by them" means placing one's essential vitality in Torah and mitzvos, the Sefas Emes explains that this is literally so. A person's source of life follows what he lives for — the wicked draw life from physical pleasure, but tzaddikim, who live to serve Hashem, draw their very life from Torah ("they are our life"). The more one makes Torah primary, the more its all-encompassing supernal life-force flows down even into this world, for it is precisely to spread the Torah's light into olam hazeh that Hashem entrusted it to Bnei Yisrael.